I need safety schools!!! HELP please

<p>I am a High School Junior and am getting into the thick of the college search/application process. My mom and i have made list of schools that we THINK match my profile but I'm starting to get scared that i don't have anything like enough safety schools, especially as I'm seeing senior friends get rejected from schools they thought were a good bet. My stats are:</p>

<p>6.5 weighted GPA
3.7 unweighted GPA</p>

<p>I have taken all honors classes and 3 APs (which arent weighted any differently than honors at my school.) I scored a four on my ap test last year but haven't taken the other two yet since Im still currently taking the classes.</p>

<p>Mostly As with a few Bs (i think three). The big problem for me is that i got a C+ (79!!) in sophomore chem, and i KNOW that's going to seriously hurt me. </p>

<p>SATS: I haven't taken my SATS yet, but my PSAT scores were 203 two years in a row... i was told to expect about a 100 point increase when i take the SATS (i dont know if thats legitimate).</p>

<p>EC:
- Drama club/ Drama club council
- Class Secretary
- Math/reading/writing tutor at a local elementary school
- One of two Student Representatives to the town's board of ed. (student rep to board of ed. subcommittee.)
- Superintendent's Student Advisory Committee
- Teacher's assistant and my synagogue's Hebrew school (special ed aid)
- I initiated and "run" a summer program at the local special education summer school for High School students interested in working with special needs kids (running for two and a half years).
- Brown University's Precollege Summer Program Summer 2011</p>

<p>So far my college list includes:</p>

<p>Brown
Vanderbilt
George Washington
Barnard
Emory
Franklin and Marshal
Haverford
North Western
Oberling
Sarah Lawrence
Swarthmore
Tufts
University of Chicago
University of Rochester
UConn
University of Michigan
Vasser
Gettysburg</p>

<p>I know there are a ton of schools here and i am definitely not planning on applying to all of them (nor do i assume that i will even get into some of the reachier ones). I would really appreciate some help weeding out the ones that i have no shot at getting into and adding a few safeties. I'm looking for something "liberal artsy" with a nice (somewhat green) campus.</p>

<p>Thank you SO MUCH!</p>

<p>Keep your grades HIGH!!
Look into the flagship state universities of your state as safeties.</p>

<p>A safety meets these four criteria:</p>

<p>1) You can pay for it without any aid other than federally determined (FAFSA) aid and/or guaranteed state aid (Hope, Bright Futures, TAP, etc.) and/or guaranteed merit-based aid from the college/university itself.</p>

<p>2) You are guaranteed admission based on your stats (many public colleges & universities post this right on their websites) OR you are certain of admission because your high school has many years of records that demonstrate that no applicant from you school with stats like yours has ever been rejected.</p>

<p>3) You major is offered.</p>

<p>4) You will be happy to attend if you don’t get in anywhere else that you can afford.</p>

<p>For most students, the safety will be an in-state public university or community college. If you haven’t looked at you in-state publics yet, do that now.</p>

<p>If money will be an issue, spend some time reading through the threads in the Financial Aid Forum. Your grades and exam scores are good enough for serious merit aid at some places you may not have thought of.</p>

<p>I see that Barnard is on your list. You might look a the other women’s colleges as well.</p>

<p>Is there a theme behind these school choices? I certainly can’t find one. What are you looking for? What can your family afford?</p>

<p>*My mom and i have made list of schools that we THINK match my profile but I’m starting to get scared that i don’t have anything like enough safety schools, especially as I’m seeing senior friends get rejected from schools they thought were a good bet. My stats are:</p>

<p>6.5 weighted GPA
3.7 unweighted GPA
*</p>

<p>What is your major and/or career goal?</p>

<p>What kinds of schools do you like? </p>

<p>You need to ask your mom how much your family will pay for college. Safety schools rarely give good aid. Your budget will likely determine which schools can be your safety schools.</p>

<p>However, if your parents will pay however much a school costs, then you’ll have a number of choices.</p>

<p>Based on your list, you could also look at Wellesley, Reed, Boston College, and Wesleyan. I don’t think they’re safeties, but they seem like good matches.</p>

<p>Definately apply to the Claremont schools in Ca. Pitzer is the most liberal artsy and with your grades and activities you seem like a fit. Plus they have GREAT financial aid (depending on your parents’ income)!</p>

<p>“My mom and i have made list of schools that we THINK match my profile but I’m starting to get scared that i don’t have anything like enough safety schools”</p>

<p>You don’t need “enough safety schools”. You need A safety school. One that meets the criteria that happymomof1 enumerated above. </p>

<p>Once you’ve figured out whether you prefer a mega-university like UM or a small LAC such as Vassar or Oberlin you’ll have a better idea of what you are looking for in a safety.</p>

<p>I agree with Erin’sDad that your list seems scattered. There are small suburban LACs, mid-sized/large urban privates, one women’s college, etc… - if you can clarify what kind of environment you want to be in, what part of the country, what you can afford, etc…you can come up with a list of schools that are ‘comparables’ at different levels of selectivity.</p>

<p>And I agree that you need only one safety school. Maybe two if you want to avoid feeling ‘forced’ into something, but your public U is probably a good bet there, as others have stated.</p>

<p>Your list like a pull from USNWR Post T10, you should not apply to so many schools for no reason at all other than prestige related. OTOH, you seems have some “safeties” already, UCONN and Gettysburg. Whether they are your financial safeties is remain to be discussed. </p>

<p>Try to eliminate some schools so your efforts can be concentrated.</p>

<p>thanks everybody! ill definitely take a look at those you all mentioned and yeah… i know i need to cut my list down… its a work in progress.</p>

<p>the theme behind these choices (for the most part) is that they have a decent English department. I am hoping to be an english major. As for the size differences, i really dont care all that much how big the school i go to is. i can see myself being happy at a big place or a little one. Location is also fairly low on my list i just want to get out of Connecticut. The only other physical criteria i have for picking a school is that i would like it to have a real, green, campus. I ruled out a few others already because they were smack in the middle of a city.</p>

<p>GW is “smack in the middle of a city” (DC) and has no real central campus or green space, so if that’s important to you, strike it out.</p>

<p>U Chicago has green space but it is in a city. Some other schools known for English are Kenyon and Denison in OH.</p>